How difficult is it to get a job as a dentist in the UK with an overseas degree?
Hi all,
I'm considering pursuing a career in dentistry. I'm 35 and have a degree in electrical and electronic engineering. I would do graduate dentistry but unfortunately I only got a 2.2. I wasn't all that motivated when I was in my late teens/early 20s, suffering from major depression at the time. I actually did a Telecommunications Msc whilst having finally having some treatment and got merit which shows you I could have achieved a 2.1 with a healthier mindset.
I recently repeated my levels studying Maths Physics and Chemistry and got A*AA (my A Levels previously as a teenager werent great). So my academic results have gotten better as I've gotten older, so whilst I wouldnt have been nowhere near an ideal candidate for dental school 15 years ago, I might be now.
As I have repeated A Levels a and a 2.2 I was wondering about studying dentistry abroad (e.g. Spain), there does appear to be a stigma for those who study abroad and more importantly Im worried about my future employment prospects. I know the ORE exam has barely a 50% pass rate. I also notice a lot of medicine/dentistry abroad threads seem to full of newbie posters with low post counts which I find a bit suspicious.
My only other option is to study Dentistry in Canada. Im a Canadian citizen by descent and Canada does allow entry with a second undergraduate degree (providing I get a first) and a good DAT score, however this will be 7 years (3 year UK undergraduate + 4 Canadian dental school).
I would appreciate any advise on this.
I'm considering pursuing a career in dentistry. I'm 35 and have a degree in electrical and electronic engineering. I would do graduate dentistry but unfortunately I only got a 2.2. I wasn't all that motivated when I was in my late teens/early 20s, suffering from major depression at the time. I actually did a Telecommunications Msc whilst having finally having some treatment and got merit which shows you I could have achieved a 2.1 with a healthier mindset.
I recently repeated my levels studying Maths Physics and Chemistry and got A*AA (my A Levels previously as a teenager werent great). So my academic results have gotten better as I've gotten older, so whilst I wouldnt have been nowhere near an ideal candidate for dental school 15 years ago, I might be now.
As I have repeated A Levels a and a 2.2 I was wondering about studying dentistry abroad (e.g. Spain), there does appear to be a stigma for those who study abroad and more importantly Im worried about my future employment prospects. I know the ORE exam has barely a 50% pass rate. I also notice a lot of medicine/dentistry abroad threads seem to full of newbie posters with low post counts which I find a bit suspicious.
My only other option is to study Dentistry in Canada. Im a Canadian citizen by descent and Canada does allow entry with a second undergraduate degree (providing I get a first) and a good DAT score, however this will be 7 years (3 year UK undergraduate + 4 Canadian dental school).
I would appreciate any advise on this.
(edited 2 years ago)
You would need to email each UK Dental School to see if they will accept your degree : https://bda.org/dental-schools
Even if they dont offer a specifically Grad Dentistry course they may still consider grads for the 5 year course,
Even if they dont offer a specifically Grad Dentistry course they may still consider grads for the 5 year course,
@Mesopotamian. might have some insight?
Anecdotally my dentist is Portguese and qualified in Portugal so evidently at least some are hired in the UK. Dentistry is a bit less clear cut than medicine since there is a mix of private and NHS dental surgeries and I don't know how it ends up breaking down between them (technically this is true of medicine as well but the vast majority of medics are employed by the NHS, even many private medics work in the NHS as well as privately I gather).
Something to note is for medicine, I think there are a lot of people who start studying medicine e.g. in Europe, but then don't progress in the degree because the European model for medicine degrees is often "let everyone in, but have extremely hard marking boundaries and only the top X% of students progress each year". Those who actually do graduate from the degrees may not actually have trouble getting work in the UK as a medic if the jump through all the required hoops - but just graduating from a lot of those European medical schools is very hard (comparable to how hard it is to get into a medicine degree in the UK; similar attrition, just at different points in the process). Dentistry may be similar.
All that said though, with A*AA I imagine you would meet the requirements of many standard entry dental courses in the UK. The main difficulty then is funding, since you would have very limited funding from SFE available if doing standard entry dentistry, but I imagine the costs of a second degree plus Canadian dental school would be similar? Note that for a second UG degree not in dentistry or certain other exception subjects, you would get no funding from SFE.
Anecdotally my dentist is Portguese and qualified in Portugal so evidently at least some are hired in the UK. Dentistry is a bit less clear cut than medicine since there is a mix of private and NHS dental surgeries and I don't know how it ends up breaking down between them (technically this is true of medicine as well but the vast majority of medics are employed by the NHS, even many private medics work in the NHS as well as privately I gather).
Something to note is for medicine, I think there are a lot of people who start studying medicine e.g. in Europe, but then don't progress in the degree because the European model for medicine degrees is often "let everyone in, but have extremely hard marking boundaries and only the top X% of students progress each year". Those who actually do graduate from the degrees may not actually have trouble getting work in the UK as a medic if the jump through all the required hoops - but just graduating from a lot of those European medical schools is very hard (comparable to how hard it is to get into a medicine degree in the UK; similar attrition, just at different points in the process). Dentistry may be similar.
All that said though, with A*AA I imagine you would meet the requirements of many standard entry dental courses in the UK. The main difficulty then is funding, since you would have very limited funding from SFE available if doing standard entry dentistry, but I imagine the costs of a second degree plus Canadian dental school would be similar? Note that for a second UG degree not in dentistry or certain other exception subjects, you would get no funding from SFE.
Depending on how recent your A Levels are, you have the option of applying for undergraduate dentistry, although as @artful_lounger has aptly pointed out, funding would be your biggest barrier.
You have the option of doing your BDS overseas, but as you’ve mentioned, the ORE is difficult to pass and you would have to have this to be able to register with the GDC and work as a dentist in the U.K., whether that’s in the NHS or private industry. An additional barrier to working in the NHS via this route is that you’d need to get a performer number which is available by completing the DFT, although U.K. students are prioritised and you are not guaranteed a position. There are alternative methods that I’m not familiar with, but I imagine they’re all equally as competitive.
You have the option of doing your BDS overseas, but as you’ve mentioned, the ORE is difficult to pass and you would have to have this to be able to register with the GDC and work as a dentist in the U.K., whether that’s in the NHS or private industry. An additional barrier to working in the NHS via this route is that you’d need to get a performer number which is available by completing the DFT, although U.K. students are prioritised and you are not guaranteed a position. There are alternative methods that I’m not familiar with, but I imagine they’re all equally as competitive.
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by Sharpshooter
Hi all,
I'm considering pursuing a career in dentistry. I'm 35 and have a degree in electrical and electronic engineering. I would do graduate dentistry but unfortunately I only got a 2.2. I wasn't all that motivated when I was in my late teens/early 20s, suffering from major depression at the time. I actually did a Telecommunications Msc whilst having finally having some treatment and got merit which shows you I could have achieved a 2.1 with a healthier mindset.
I recently repeated my levels studying Maths Physics and Chemistry and got A*AA (my A Levels previously as a teenager werent great). So my academic results have gotten better as I've gotten older, so whilst I wouldnt have been nowhere near an ideal candidate for dental school 15 years ago, I might be now.
As I have repeated A Levels a and a 2.2 I was wondering about studying dentistry abroad (e.g. Spain), there does appear to be a stigma for those who study abroad and more importantly Im worried about my future employment prospects. I know the ORE exam has barely a 50% pass rate. I also notice a lot of medicine/dentistry abroad threads seem to full of newbie posters with low post counts which I find a bit suspicious.
My only other option is to study Dentistry in Canada. Im a Canadian citizen by descent and Canada does allow entry with a second undergraduate degree (providing I get a first) and a good DAT score, however this will be 7 years (3 year UK undergraduate + 4 Canadian dental school).
I would appreciate any advise on this.
I'm considering pursuing a career in dentistry. I'm 35 and have a degree in electrical and electronic engineering. I would do graduate dentistry but unfortunately I only got a 2.2. I wasn't all that motivated when I was in my late teens/early 20s, suffering from major depression at the time. I actually did a Telecommunications Msc whilst having finally having some treatment and got merit which shows you I could have achieved a 2.1 with a healthier mindset.
I recently repeated my levels studying Maths Physics and Chemistry and got A*AA (my A Levels previously as a teenager werent great). So my academic results have gotten better as I've gotten older, so whilst I wouldnt have been nowhere near an ideal candidate for dental school 15 years ago, I might be now.
As I have repeated A Levels a and a 2.2 I was wondering about studying dentistry abroad (e.g. Spain), there does appear to be a stigma for those who study abroad and more importantly Im worried about my future employment prospects. I know the ORE exam has barely a 50% pass rate. I also notice a lot of medicine/dentistry abroad threads seem to full of newbie posters with low post counts which I find a bit suspicious.
My only other option is to study Dentistry in Canada. Im a Canadian citizen by descent and Canada does allow entry with a second undergraduate degree (providing I get a first) and a good DAT score, however this will be 7 years (3 year UK undergraduate + 4 Canadian dental school).
I would appreciate any advise on this.
Hi, what did you decide to do?
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